We'll hev to step clever, or we'll be wet before we
reach t' hall."
The rector smiled at the squire's unconscious statement of his own
position; but the rain was not to be disregarded, and, indeed, before
they reached shelter the ladies' dresses were wet through, and there
was so many evidences of a storm that the rector determined to stay
all night with his friends. When Elizabeth and Phyllis came down in
dry clothing, they found a wood fire crackling upon the hearth, and
a servant laying the table for supper.
"Elizabeth, let's hev that round o' spiced beef, and some cold chicken,
and a bit o' raspberry tart, and some clouted cream, if there's owt
o' t' sort in t' buttery. There's nothing like a bit o' good eating,
if there's owt wrong wi' you."
The rector and the squire were in their slippers, on each side of the
ample hearth, and they had each, also, a long, clean, clay pipe in
their mouth. The serenity of their faces, and their air of thorough
comfort was a delightful picture to Phyllis. She placed herself close
to her uncle, with her head resting on his shoulder. The two men were
talking in easy, far-apart sentences of "tithes," and, as the subject
did not interest her, she let her eyes wander about the old room,
noting its oaken walls, richly carved and almost black with age, and
its heavy oaken furniture, the whole brightened up with many-colored
rugs, and the gleaming silver and crystal on the high sideboard, and
the gay geraniums and roses in the deep bay windows.
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